Nearly a week after the news that Jannik Sinner was exposed to banned substances without being banned from playing, Novak Djokovic spoke up to express his opinion.
Accordingly, Djokovic hopes that this incident will create a change in the way tennis deals with anti-doping.
Sinner has denied allegations of special treatment and has asserted his guilty conscience after he failed a ban, despite testing positive for the banned substance steroid clostebol twice earlier this year.
A lot of reaction was made after the incident was made public, with questions about whether it was fair for players who were quick to receive penalties after getting a positive result.
Djokovic said: "There are many problems in the system. I can understand the feelings of many players who are wondering if they are being treated like that.
We see a lack of standardized and clear protocols. Hopefully, our sports management agencies will be able to learn from this case and have a better approach for the future.
I think there needs to be a change, I think it's obvious... so that every player, regardless of their ranking, status or profile, can receive the same treatment."
Sinner, the current world No. 1, has been embroiled in a storm of controversy ahead of the 2024 US Open.
This news caused outrage in the tennis world, with some colleagues reacting angrily and saying that the best people were given special treatment.
Many tennis players, including Denis Shapovalov, Lucas Pouille and Tara Moore, argue that top players have different rules to lower-ranked players.
Moore was out for 19 months after testing positive for metabolites nandrolone and boldenone in 2022 before receiving a no-fault or negligence in December.
Djokovic continued: " And now the question is whether it is a money issue or not. Is a tennis player willing to pay a large sum of money to a law firm to be able to represent his case more effectively?
I don't know. That is really something I feel we have to research more together.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz answered cautiously when asked about the opponent's test result.
In the end, it was a very sensitive topic, he said, It was a very, very serious topic. There are hidden things behind the scenes that many people don't know, I certainly don't know.
Therefore, in the end, to be honest, it is difficult to talk about this topic. He tested positive, but there must be some reason for them to let him continue playing that we don't know. Therefore, I cannot say more about this topic.
In the end, they declared him innocent and he still participated in the tournament. I think there is not much more to say.
